Apparatus for controlling elevators



Sept. 21 1926'. 1,600,751

F E. BOARDMAN ET AL I APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ELEVATORS V Original Filed March 26, 1923 4 Sheeis-$h9et 1 I. Eifl oara'man Jr.

Sept. 21 1926.

F. E. BOARDMAN ET AL "APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ELEVATORS 4 Shee ts Sheet 2 Original Filed Man 3h 26, 192:,

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\. f ow on lmomzman & FEBoardmzzn Swami;

Sept. 21 1926.

F. E. BOARDMAN ET AL APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ELEVATORS Original FiIed March 26, 1923 4 She'MQ-Sheet 3 EEfioardman & j fllilioardz nan vmvvv zgw g H Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. BOARDMAN AND FRANK E. BOARDMAN, JR., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AS-

SIGNORSOF ONE-HALF TO PLEASANT I. WILLIAMS, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, AND WILLIAM H. FITZ-HUGH, OF VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI.

APPARATUS non cournonmivo ELEVATORS.

-Application filed March 26, 1923, Serial No. 627,812. Renewed August 8, 1926.

This invention relates to devices for controlling elevators and has for its objectto provide an apparatus of this character which will be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and more efficient in use than those which have been heretofore proposed.

lVith these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

This invention differs from that of the copending application of Frank E. Boardman, Serial No. 553,025, filed April 15, 1922, apparatus for controlling elevators in that, among other things, this apparatus is not provided with a series of movable contacts constituting a schedule carriage, nor with a stationary contact member over which said carriage moves as is the device of said prior case. This difference in construction enables one to provide a shorter rotating contact cylinder and a smaller contact panel board than is employed in the prior apparatus, all as will appear more fully hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the assembled elevator controlling mechanism;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the rotary contact cylinder;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of the selective element associated with the contact cylinder shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view partially broken away, of the contact member illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line (i6 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line S-8 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 9 is a development of the rotary switch or cylinder illustrated in Figure 3, showing the disposition of the wires and contacts on said cylinder;

Figure 10 is a diagram of the wiring of the entire system; and

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic view showing how a plurality of units maybe joined or puttogether in order to enlarge the capacity of the system.

1 indicates any suitable support or base which may be located at any convenient portion of the building, as for example, on the first floor. 2 indicates any suitable motor provided with a clutch 3, and a driven shaft l. Secured to said shaft 4 is a suitable driving means such as the friction disk 5 with .which contacts the adjustable friction disk (3 rigid with the longitudinally adjustable shaft '7 adapted to drive the cylinder 8. On

one end of shaft 7, as best illustrated in Fig ure 3, is lined a screw threaded sleeve 9, by means of the screw members 10 entering a groove 11 with which said shaft is provided. Surrounding the screw threaded sleeve 9 is a knurled nut like member 13 supported in the ring member 14 rigid with the frame member 15. Said sleeve 9, see Figure 6, is provided with a slot 16 into which enters the end 17 of a screw member 18, in order to prevent the said sleeve from turning when the member 13 is turned. Said knurled nut 13 is provided with the shoulder 20 which fits on one side of the ring member 14, and a locking disk 21 secured to said nut 13, fits on the other side of said ring 14, so that while said nut 13 is free to turn, it cannot move longitudinally of the shaft 7,. and therefore its motion compels said shaft 7 to move in a longitudinal direction. Also secured to the sleeve member 9 is an indicating member 22, adapted to coact with the scale 23, as best shown in Figure 1. The construction is such as will be clear from the drawings, that when the knurled nut member 13 is turned the shaft 7 will be moved longitudinally to change the speed of rotation of cylinder 8, and the amount of movement will be indicated on the scale 23.

That is, the different movements of the shaft 7 will determine the different speeds with which the cylinder 8 is rotated, as will be clear from the drawings. Said contact. cylinder 8 is provided with the outer member of insulating material fitted over two drums 26 and 27, throughwhich the shaft 7 passes, and these drums in turn are conveniently mounted on the ball bearing 28 as shown. The said shaft 7 is further splined as at 29, and the screw member 30 enters said spline so that power transmitted to shaft 7 will be transmitted to screw member 30, to the supporting member 31, to the screw threaded member 32. to the drum 26 and to the outer cylindrical member 25. The cylinder 8 is thus rotated at the same speed as is the shaft 7, while the shaft 7 may be longitudinally adjusted to change the speed of cylinder 8 without interfering with the rotation of the parts. Secured to the base member 1 and insulated therefrom arc the end members 33 and 3st, in which are located the ball bearings 28 as shown; associated with the end member 33 is the bracket while associated with the end member 3st is the bracket 36. Secured to the said brackets. 35 and 36 is the contact carrying member 37 made of insulating material, and secured to -the latter are the spring contact fingers 38, all as will be clear from Figures 3 and 7. For each contact finger 38 there is a corresponding spring contact finger 39, see Figures 3 and 7, and also another contact finger 40. Each of the contact fingers 39 and 40 are secured to the insulating block 41 as by means of the screws 42 and the contact terminal 43. The cylinder 8 is further provided with the insulating disk like ring i l in which fits the thimble like metallic member 45 provided with the two cam projections -16 having the depression 47, between them. A spring 48 abutting against the collar 49 located on the inner portion of the member 45 and carried by the drum 27 constantly forces the member if) toward the right as seen in Figure 3 and thus keeps the cams 46 in the path of movement of the series ot'contacts 50, with which the outer insulating cylinder 25 is provided.

There is a pin contact 50 for each car to he controlled, and each pin 50 is connected as by. a 'wire 51' with a contact 52 located on the outer circumference of the cylinder 8, see Figures 3, 7 and 9. These said contacts 52 are preferably arranged in rows circumferentially around, the cylinder 8, see dotted lines 200, 201, and 202, Figure 9, and for each row of contacts 52, there is a spring contact 53 secured to the insulating block 54 carried by the base block 55 of insulated material, all as will be clear from Figures 7 and 10.

- As will be clear from Figures 3 and 7, the bracket 36 pivots in the flanges of the members 3i around the axis of shaft 7 a center, so that the sector shaped piece 37 may be ro tatedaround said shaft to cause each contact member 38 to engage a difi'erent contact member 52, in its particular row of contacts, as will be clear from the dotted lines, Figure 7. tion will be disclosed below, but it will be observed that when the parts are in their full line positions shown in Figure 7,'current is led to the member 89 through the contact 38, while when the parts are in their dotted line positions, current is led to the member -10, through the contact member 38. It will be further observed that the bracket 35 is a substantial duplicate of the bracket 36, so that when the sector 37 has been turned or rotated in the manner above disclosed, the bracket 36 will also be turned and the set screw 61 is employed to jam or lock the member 35 in its new position and thus lock the sector 37 in its adjusted position.

Referring now to the diagrammatic illustration shown in Figure 10, it will be observed that the contact 47, see Figures 3, 5 and 10, is adapted to turn entirely around the inside of the cylinder 8, and thus make contact with any one of the contact members 50. It will further be seen from Figure 9 that the circumferential row of contacts 50 are each joined by the Wires 51 to a corresponding contact 52, and that a contact 52 in each instance is the beginning of a series of contacts disposed about the circumference of the cylinder, and that each series contains a different number of contacts 52 corresponding to the number of cars which are to be controlled by said series. Stated in other words, referring to the numeral 1 in Figure 9,.its corresponding contact 50 is joined by the wire 51 to a single contact 52, and therefore ll indicates that a single car is controlled by the corresponding contact 50. 2, on the other hand, refers to a series of contacts consisting of two contacts and indicates that two cars are controlled by its corresponding contact 50. In Figure 9, the first contact 52 of the series 2 is illustrated near the bottom of said figure, while the other contact 52 is illustrated near the top o;t the figure, the two contacts 52 and 52 being' joined by the wire 63. The numerals 2 appearing at the bottom and top edges of Figure 9 identify the cut ends of the wirei63. In the same way, the numeral 8 in Figure 9 indicates that there are eight cars to be controlled in that series from its corresponding contact 50. Seven of the contacts 52 of this last mentioned series are shown as connected by the wire 64 and the eighth or last of said contacts 52 is shown at the upper edge of Figure 9, and as connected by the wire 64. The numeral 8 at the top and bottom of Figure 9 identifies the cut ends of the same wire. In'the case of the series 10 all of the cont-acts 52 are shown as joined by the The purpose of this rota wire 65, extending from the top to near the bottom of Figure 9.

Goingback now to Figure 10 and supposing that current enters the system through the wire 76, it. passes to the switch 7 5, to the wire 74, to the point 73, where it divides. A portion of the current now passes along the wire 72, to the motor 2, through said motor, and out of the same along the wire 71 to the point 70. Said current now passes along the wire 69 back to the switch member 68 and out the lead 67 back to the source of current. Another portion of said current passes from the point 73 along the wire 77 to the screw 78, Figure 3, to the bracket member 34 through the ball bearings 28,

the drum member 27, the collar 49, and the,

contact member 47, to the contact pin 50. If said contact member 47 has been sovturned through the medium of the member 44, see Figure 3, that said contact. member 47 makes circuit with the contact in 50, in the series of contacts 1, as is illustrated in Figure 10, then current will pass through the wire 51 to said contact 52 in series 1, and as the drum 8 revolves in the manner above disclosed said contact 52 will make circuit with the spring member 38, see Figure 7, which is in contact with the spring member 39, see Figures 3 and 7, whereupon the current will pass out of the terminal 43 along the wire 80, Figures 7 and 10, to thepoint 81, where it divides, and along the wire 82 to the spring plug 83, to its corresponding jack member 8 1 through the white light 85 to the point 86, to the wire 87, and to the point 88. The current at the point 88 passes along the wire 89 back to the point 70, through the wire 69, switch 68, wire 67, and back to the source.

From the point 81 the current passes along the wire 90 to the point 91, through the wire 92 to the white light 93, which is carried on the car in shaft No. 1, and controlled by the series 1", Figure 10, and from said white light 93, the current passes along the wire 94 to the point 95, along the wire 96 to the point 97, along the wire 98 to the point 88, and thence along the wire 89 and its connections back to the source of current.

From the' mechanism so far disclosed, it

i will now be clearthat as the motor 2 rethe particular location of the segment 37.

Supposing, however, that the contact series 1 is thus brought into electrical connection with the contact member 39 as described, current will pass through the white light 85 located on the stationary board 1, and simultaneously pass through a corresponding white light 93 located on the car, which belongs to the series 1 and which is to be operated. The flashing of the white light 85 in the manner just disclosed will indicate. to the elevator starter the fact that. thecar belonging to, this particular series should start, and the flashing of the white light 93 will indicate to the operator of the car in shaft No. 1 that it is time for him to begin his upward trip. There are red lights to indicate to the car starter and to the operators of the various cars the beginnings of the downward trips, as will be presently disclosed. It should be stated that conveniently located between the top and bottom of the elevator shaft, or say about midway thereof, is a contact plate 100 provided with suitable terminals, etc., for makingsuitable and well knownconnections with the white and red lights, on each car, and'of course, there would have to be as many sets of terminals as there are cars to be operated; As the connections are indicated in Figure 10, only a single car would be operated as the motor 2 revolved for the contact 47 only makes circuit with the single series 1. But* now suppose that the elevator starter wished to control or to operate two cars insteadof one. He would go to the indicator board 1, and with his hand turn the member-44, Figure 3, until the contact member 47 made circuit with the contact pin 50 pertaining to the series 2 which, as shown in Figure 10, is provided with the two contacts 52 on the cylinder 8. In such case the current having reached the point 47 in Figure 10, would now pass along the wire 51 corresponding to series 2, and to both of the contacts 52 of said series 2. As the cylinder 8 revolved, it would make electrical circuit successively with the corresponding two anembers 38 and their two coacting contacts 39, with which the apparatus is provided, see Figures 3, and 7 (it being understood that there is a member 38 for each member 39, sec dotted lines in Figure Current will now pass successively along both of said members 39, and along their corresponding connecting wires and 80, Figures 3, 7 and 10, to the corresponding points of division 81 and 81, along the wires 82 and 82 to the plugs 83'and 83*, to their corresponding jacks 84, and 84, and through their corresponding white lights 85 and 85, to the p0ints86 and 86, along the wire 87 to the point 88. The current now returns along the wire 89 back to its source as above .described, it being understood, of course, that -the two cars now being operated do not leave the bottom 'floor simultaneously, and therefore the white lights 85 and 85 do not flash simultaneously but successively. That is to say, the original car belonging to series 1" is now operating as car X0. 1 of the series 2, and therefore its white light 93 is flashed precisely as was the case just described when only one car was being used. In this .ries 2 however, in additionto this said car No. 1 being operated, the second car carrying a white light 93 is also operated. and this said white light is flashed simultaneously with the stationary white light above disclosed, by means of that portion of current passing from said point of divisi0n 81 over the wire to the terminal 91, thence over the wire 92 to the light 9%, carried by car No. 2, through the said light over the'wire 91 to terminal 95, thence over wire 96 to the terminal 97, over wire 98, back to the point 88, and thence to the source, as above disclosed, over the wire 89.

hether one, two or more cars are used in this system, it is obvious that all of the said cars will never be started from the main or ground floor at the same time, and further, it is evident that only upon rare occasions, if ever, will any two cars he started from the said floor simultaneously. That is to say, all the cars operating in this system will have successive times of departure from the main floor and this is taken care of through the medium of the said rotary contact cylinder 8. The accomplish- 'ment of this is done through the particular disposition 0r displacement of the several contact points 52 around the circumference of the said cylinder as shown in Figure 9. The spacing of these said contact points 52 is such as to cause each successive car to be automatically signalled by the rotation of c linder 8, at uniform intervals. That is, i we consider for instance series 2*, in which but two cars operate, it will be observed that 52 and 52 are 180 apart, or the circumfer ential distance from the first contact point 52 along the wire 63 to the second contact point 52, see Figure 9, is the same or equal to the distance from said contact point 52 back to said first named contact point 52. Likewise, in any other series, such for example, as series 8, containing eight contacts, the locations of the successive contact members 52 will be on the circumference of the cylinder 8 at points one eighth of a cir cumference or 45 from each other. In other words, the full 360 of circumference of the cylinder are divided into equal arcs by the number of cars to be operated in the series, and at the points of division are located the particular contactpoints 52 of that particular series. Thus it will be seen that each car in the series will be normally flashed or signalled for its upward or downward trip at equal intervals of time.

In a similar manner, signals for each car are flashed to start the downward trip through the medium of the red lights and 100, located respectively on the hoard 1 and in the carp That is to say, after the white lights are flashed the cylinder in its continuedrevolution will carry the contact points of each series on around from the contact lingers 3!) or -10 to the contact lingers 53, see Figures 7 and 10, and thus close the circuits momentarily which pass through the said red lights. The circuits for these red lights or down signals, are as follows:

The current passes from the source through the wire 76, through the switch member 75. wire 71, to divisioirpoint over wire 77 to the variahlecontact member at, all as heretofore described, thence through the particular pin 50 with which the said variable contact member 4:7 engages over the wire 51 of that particular series connected with the variable contact member 4:7 to the contact member carried by the cylinder 8. hen the cylinder 8 has revolved sufiiciently to carry the point so as to make contact with the spring finger member 53, see full lines, Figure 7, and dotted lines, Figure. 10, the current passes from the said contact 52 to the member 53, through the terminal post 107 to the wire 108, along said wire to the point 109, thence over wire 110 to the other contact portion 111 of the plug 83, thence to the other contact member112 of the jack 8 1, through the red light 105 to the point 113, thence over the wire 87 which from Figure 10 it will be observed is common to one side of both white and red lamps, and so to the aforementioned point- 88. From the said point 88 the current passes over the wire 89 to point 70, back to the source all as will be clear from the foregoing. At the point 109 it will be observed that the current splits and a second circuit starts at this point, passes over wire 114 to the point 115, over the wire 116 to the red light 106 carried by the car No. 1, through said light over the wire 117 to the terminal 95, thence over wire 96 to point 97, over wire 98 to point 88, where it returns over the wire 89 as has been heretofore described, and as is illustrated in Figure 10. If two cars are utilized as was the case described previously, and the said contact member 47 engages the pin 50 of the series 2, then the circuit for the down signals will be as follows: As heretofore described, the circuit originating at the source will'reach the contact 17, pass into the cylinder 8, enlivening contact points 52 of the said series 2, so that when the said contacts have revolved through the turning of said cylinder they will successively contact with spring members 53 of which there areas many as spring contact members 39 thence over the wires 108 and 108, successively in the same manner as did current pass from the said contact members through the spring members 39 or 40, and thence over the wires 80 and 80 as was disclosed previously, in the description of the white or up signals.

Referring to Figure 10, it will thus be seen that the current will pass through these said wires 108 and 108 to the points 109 and 1.09, where it divides, a portion passing over the wires 110 and 1.10, to the red lights 105 and 105 thence over the common wire 87 to the point 88, and thence back to the source over the aforementioned return wire 89. The other portion of the said circuits passes over the wires 114 and 114C to the points 115 and 115', over the Wires 116 and 116 to the red or down signals 106 and 106, carried respectively by car No. 1, and car No. 2 of the series 2, through the said "lamps, through wires 117 and 117, to the terminals 95 and 95 over the common wire 96 to the point 97, over the common return wire 98 to the point 88, and thence to the source over the common return wire 89. a

In a similar manner, as just described, for

' series 2", the system may be utilized for any number of cars up to and including ten. For example, should there be ten cars in the -building, all operated by this system, the

white signal for the start of each car and located on the stationary board 1 as. well as,

the white lamp of each car andcarried thereon, will be flashed successively, all in the same manner, as has been heretofore described by the specific examples of one, or two cars, the only difference being that for each car there must necessarily be a plug and av jack and that said plug must be inserted in its corresponding jack to control the circuits of the cars in operation. Therefore, if ten cars are in use, all ten plugs must be inserted in their jacks to close the circuits, so, that as each contact member 52 carried by the revolving cylinder 8 contacts with its respective spring member the circuit will be closed so as to momentarily flash the lamps corresponding to the cars. For the sake of brevity, only the circuits .of one and two cars have been specifically traced anddescribed, but it is obvious by referring to the drawings that in like manner the circuits will be made for any number of cars. That is to say, each 'circuitis really a duplicate of the other, the circuit being closed momentarily through the medium of the contact members 52 carried by the revolving cylinder.

It will now be seen that in order to control the starting of elevators in say, large office buildings, to obtain the most efficient service, there should be a systematic control of the same, and this is accomplished such as that explained herein. By the use of this system, each car is successively signalled, and thereby each car will have a uniform or equal number of trips during the day; further, itwill be obvious that in the early morning hours the peak of up travel is reached, and therefore at this particular time all the cars in the building can be thrown into this system by the plugging of the corresponding plugs into their jacks. However, say at about ten oclock in the morning, the volume of up traffic is considerably reduced and one or more cars may be temporarily thrown out of-the system, the operators thereof laid offfand the volume of traffic handled in an efficient manner by the remaining cars at the will of the superintendent or starter. Likewise, at thenoon rush hour, and the evening homeoing peak,

the down travel may be control ed by the employment'of all the cars.

In this construction, it is one of the objects of my invention to vary the time of the upward or downward travel of the cars in accordance with the passage of trafiic. That is to say, in the early morning hours when practically all of the said traffic is upward, it may became necessary to time the trips of the car so that the time consumed in the upward travel is longer than the time required for the descent of the car; This is obvious at this time of day from the fact that there will be. little if no downward passage, or travel, and consequently no stops. Therefore, little time is required for the car to reach the main or ground floor after leav-.

ing the top. To accomplish this, the member shaft 7 as a center to such a position as is 1 shown in dotted lines in Figure 7. From particularreference to this figure, it will be seen that the member 38 in full line position makes contact with the points 52 at a position practically diametrically opposite from that location at which the spring member 53 contacts with the said point 52. This indicates that the up signal and down signal is flashed at equal intervals of time with respect to each other. That is, if the volume of traffic'were e ual in both up and down directions, it wou d be obvious that the member- 37 should be in such a position as is indicated bythe full line representation in Figure 7. Suppose, however, that it is late afternoon, and consequently the down traffic has greatly increased over trafiic in the opposite direction. Then it would be very advantageous to allow the car less time for its up tri than for the down, trip and this is accomp ished through the rotation of said bar 37 carrying the contact members 38 around to such a position as is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 7. From this said figure, it will now be observed that as the insulated cylinder 8 revolves in the direction of the arrow, the contact point,52 carried thereby will contact the sprin member 38 and thus give the signal for the car to start its upward travel. There being little it no passage of traftic in this direction, the

'2 car can make practically a non-stop trip,

and therefore it needs but little time to reach the top floor. Upon reaching the top floor. it takes on its load of passengers and then receives its down or red signal by virtne ot the point 52 having contacted with spring member 53 and by particularly referring to Figure 7, it will be quite obvious. that the said car may start and continue its downward trip, making the necessary steps at intervening: floors and reach the bottom or main floor after having consumed more time than was necessary'for its up trip. --In a like manner, ,it the .volume iof traflicis heaviest in an up direction, the said bar- 37 carrying the spring member 38 may be swung in a counter-clockwisedirection, as seen in Figure 7, to such a position as has been previously ascertained to be the most advantageous to correctlyw time the up and down trips of the cars. After the shifting of this member 37 it may be substantially held in a locked position through the'medium of the milled set screw 61, see Figures 1 3 and 8, clamping against the upper portion of the supporting bracket 35, which may carry a scale 17 5, as shown.

It will be obvious from Figures 1. 0 and 10 that the means employed to rotate the cylinder 8 consists of the motor 2, which delivers power through suitable gear reduction not described but indicated at 120, to the shaft 4 upon which is mounted the insulated driving disk 5 which contacts with the insulated driven disk 6 carried by the cylinder shaft 7. a

It will thus be seen that the speed or revolution of the cylinder 8 may be varied to suit the different conditions existing in a system of this kind by the shitting of the shaft 7.toward or away'from the shaft at. After the system-has been in operation for a short time and numerous'tests have been taken, the elevator starter or some one entrusted with the care and operation of the device will have discovered certain speeds of the cylinder will be best suited for certain hours of the day. To facilitate the quick and easy adjustment of the speed of the cylinder, a scale 23, carried on one of the s'u-pporting brackets of the cylinder and a pointer 22 secured to the end of the shaft 7, are provided, so that as a result of the atore mentioned tests certain divisional markings of the scale 25 will represent the speed best suited ,for that particular hour of the day and consequently the cylinder 8 can be quickly positioned.

By referring to Figure 9, it will be observed thatwhereas the contact of series '2 is on the row of contacts indicated by the dotted line 199 the other contact 52 of said series 2 is between the rows of contacts 52 which are on the dotted lines 200 and 201. That is to say, in order to place the contact 52 at say180,from its corresponding contact 52 in the series 2 it is necessary to dis- .placesaid contact 52 axially of the cylinder 8 for there "is no room for the contact 52 in the row of contacts found in the dotted line 200. On the other hand, it is essential that circuit shouldbe made with the contact 52 under the same conditions as it it were located -on the dotted line 200 in the second row of. contacts 52. I

In order to ac'complish this, the particular connections 210, see Figures 1 and 7 corre-' sponding to the contacts 40 and39 which govern the row of contacts 52 placed on the dotted line 200 is connected with an auxiliary connection 211, Figure 1, which is in all respects similar to the connection .210, and

which connection 211 leads to a corresponding pair of contacts such as 40, and 39, which would lie in the path of the particular contact 52. Further, the connections 210 and 211 are joined by thev plate 212, so that when the circuit is made with the contact 52, it provides all the conditions that it would provide if such contact 52 were located on the dotted line 200. The contact 213 pertaining to the series 3 is likewise displaced from the dotted line 200 and located between said line 200 and the dotted line 201, as shown in Figure 9, so that it is taken care of by the connection 211 in the same manner as is-the contact 52.

Coming now to the contact 216, it really belongs to the row of contacts 52 belonging to the row indicated on the dotted line 201. It is taken care of by joining the connection 214 with the connection 215 'by means of the plate 217, see Figure 1. Likewise, the contact 220, Figure 9, has been displaced from the row of contacts 52 belonging on the'dotted-line 202, and it is taken care of by the connections 221 and 222, joined by the plate 223, all as will be understood from Figure 1. By adopting the construction just disclosed in Figures 1 and 9, it will beseen that: I may place various contacts 52 in any given row of contacts, at such positions on the cylinder as will make the up and down trips of the cars at the desired intervals, and yet at the same time, I am enabled to crowd all of the contacts 52 into a relatively very small space indeed, thus enabling me to greatly reduce the size of the cylinder 8.

Referring again to Figure 9, it will be observed on the extreme end 230 of the cylinder 8 there is disposed a series of: solid black numerals 1, 2, 3 up to 10", and near said first named numerals there is also a row of open or light numerals 1", 2 3", etcl', up to 10*. It will further be observed that whereas the first mentioned solid numerals go consecutivel from the bottom to the top of Figure 9, t e second series of numerals begin at the middle and go to the top,' and then begin at the bottom and go to the middle. In other words, the be innings of the two sets of numerals are isplaced about 180 around the cylinder 8.-- The reasonfor this is as follows: These said cylinders 8- as they are manufactured are provided with these two rows of numerals disposed as indicated, and the disk like member 44 is provided with two V-shaped markings or indexes 231 and 232,'readily' distinguishable' from each other by any suitable means not shown and displaced 180 from each other, as best illustrated in Figure 4. Further, the said disk 44 is so. mounted upon thesaid variable contactmember 45 that the notch 47 of the said member 45 is in the same diameter as that joining the two, indexes 231 and 232, as will be clear from said Figure 4.

Assuming that the positions of these indexes 231 and 232 are those indicated on Figure 9,'and that the cylinder 8 is revolving upwardly or in the direction of the arrow in Figure 9, the utility of these two sets of numerals 1. and 2, etc., will be illustrated by the following.

Suppose the index 231 is opposite the solid numeral 2, and thus that there are two cars being operatedand we wish to suddenly'place ten cars in. service. Without the series of numerals 1". and 10" we would have to turn theindex 231 to the solid numeral 10", 'and in the-same direction in which the cylinder 8 is revolving. This often would be a diflicult and inconvenient problem, for the index 2 might not be ata convenient point to see, one might have to wait until the cylinder 8 brought it into view, and the cylinder 8 might be revolving faster than itwvas convenient .to turn the index member. On the other hand, the index 232 in such a case being displaced 180 from index 231, would be convenient and we could tum said index 232 backwards only two divisions until it got opposite'th'e light, Figure 10. Such a turning of index 232 would have the effect of turning the index 231 backwards, or in a direction opposit-e to the arrow in Figure 9, and making it register with the solid index 10, which is a much shorter and more convenieut operation than turning it forward or in the direction of the arrow until it reached 10.

Referring more particularly now to Figure 10', the numerals 240 represent recall buttons, which have the convenient function of enabling the operator of the system .whereupon it would divide and one portion thereof pass along the wire 114'to the red light 106, on the car, and back to the source of current in the manner already disclosed above. 'In this way, would the car No. 1

carrying the red light 106 be signalled to return at once to the bottom floor, and so on with each other switch 240.

Ari-important advantage of this system resides in the fact that the signals bei given 'for a, certain'car may be transferiiid to any other car. That is to say, suppose five cars of a bank oi. more than five ele- 'vators should. be'in operation and something should happen to-one of said five cars such as car No. 1. This particular car could be switched out of the schedule and one of the idle cars be switched into said schedule without interfering with the operation of the other four cars. This is accomplished by simply removing from its jacksocket the jack-plug such as 83,.see Fig. 10, controlling car No. 1 and inserting it in the jack-socket identified with and controlling one of the idle cars, such for exam 1e, as car No 6. Thereupon, as the cylin er re-- volves,-signals will be flashed as heretofore in cars No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, and at the same time intervals, and signals will be flashed in car No. 6 and its corresponding lamps at the operating station, instead of in the disabled car No. 1 and its corresponding station lamps. In other words,

by this substitution of jack-sockets, car No.

6 will receive its signals between the signals given to car No. 5 and car No. 2, and as five cars are still being operated, it will not be necessary tonchange the position of the selective contact element ,47. Of course,

any one of the idle cars could'be utilized in I place of the disabled car by the above transfer of the jack-plug controlling the car which was removed from service. I

Figure ll discloses the utilization of this device in a system where more than ten cars I are innse. In this said figure, the numerals used in the preceding fi ures are repeated in sofar as they apply, ut the shaft 4 is extended by the shaft 243 to a disk 244,

which operates a-second disk 245, and a sec ondshaft 246, as well as a second cylinder a 247, which is in all respectsthe same-as the cylinder 8 and which is associated with parts which" are duplicates of the parts as- C sociated with said cylinder 8. I 1

It will be observed in-F-igure that there extends from the connection -17 a wire 250. This said wire in Figure 11 is shown as extending to the cylinder 247, and of course a system of circuits not shown, but exactly similar to the circuits shown in Figure 10 are provided in connection with said cylinder 2&7, and bearing the precise relation thereto that the'circuits'in Figure 10 bear to cylinder. 8. For example, in Figure 11 the wire 108 corresponds to the wire 108 in Figure 10, and'the wire 80 corresponds to the wire 80 in Figure 10. The plug 83 in Figure 11 corresponds to the plug 83 in Figure 10, the recall buttons 240 in Figure 11 correspond to the recall buttons 2&0 in

Figure 10. It will be further observed front the point 88 in Figure 10 there extends a wire 248. In Figure 11 this wire 24S extends t'rom the board 1 which issubstantiallv the same as the board 1 in Figure 1, to the board 1 in Figure 11, which is substantially a duplicate ota portion of the board 1 in Figure 1.

It will thus be seen that this system comprises a plurality of stationary contacts such as 40. each of which is adapted to make circuit through a suitable connection such as or 39. with a row of contacts 52 cirouniferentially disposed around the cylinder 8 as is indicated for example by the dotted line 199 in Figure 9. This system also comprises a plurality of stationary contacts 53, each of which is adapted to make circuit with each of the contacts 52 in'each row such as that indicated by the said line 199. That is to say, this system involves the use of a pair of stationary contacts such as 40 and 53 for each circumferential row of contacts such as those indicated by the dotted lines 199, 200', 201, etc. -It will further be seen that each contact 40 controls a pair of white lights such as 85 and 93, one being stationary and the other on the car or elevator. It is also clear that each contact 53 controls a pair of red lights such as 105 and 106, one being stationary and the other on the car. Likewise, the pairs of white lights are fiashedsimultaneously and the pairs of red lights are flashed simultaneously. The intervals oftime between the fiashings of the white and red lights may be made equal, or unequal, by the rotating of the contact elements 37 and 38, around the cylinder 8. It will also be clear that each circumferential row of contacts such as 199, 200, etc., contains but one contact 52 belonging to any one series of contacts 1 2, etc. In other words, when a contact member such as 40 or 53 touches a particular contact member such as 520 in a given row of contacts such as 200, Figure 9, no circuit is made unless all of the contacts of the series such as 6, to which the particular contact 520 belongs, have been selected for operation. This selection is accom-.

plished by turning the member 47 to such a.

position as will include in the operating circuit all the contacts of the series ,6, as previously described.

It thus results that this invention eomtitutes an elevator controlling system, comprising a plurality of series of contacts 1, 2, 3, etc.. rotating with the cylinder 8 and that each contact of each series is located in a difierent circumference or row 199, 200, etc., of the cylinder. The system also comprises a pair of white and red lights such as 93 and 106 or signals carried by each car, as well as a pair of stationary white and red lights such as 85 and l05 that a're flashed in connection with said first n'ientioned pair. Further, each pair of these signals is governed by a single rotating contact 52in the particular series to which the car in question belongs'because each contact 52 makes circuit at different times with a pair of contacts 40 and 53.

It will further be clear that the mechanism disclosed constitutes an elevator controlling means or system which automatically. governs the starting and stopping of a plurality of cars'at predetermined time in- It is-obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore wedo not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

, Vi hat is claimed is:

1. In a switch for an elevator control system, the combination of a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, said contacts fbeing insulated from each other in circumferential rows, but electrically connected in a plurality of paths angularly disposed to said rows; contact means to select any desired angular path; and stationary contact means cooperating with the contacts of each circumferential row.

2. In a swltch for an elevator control system, the combinationof a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, said contacts being insulated from each other in circumferential rows but electrically con-.

nected in a plurality of paths angularly disposed to said rows; contact means comprising a rotatable member to select any desired angular path; and stationary contact means cooperating with the contacts of each circumferential row.

' 3. In a switch for an elevator control system, the combination of a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, said contacts being insulated from each other in circumferential rows but electrically connected in a plurality of paths angularly disosed to said rows; contact means comprising a 'rota'tablespring controlled member to select any desired angular path; and station- .ary contact means cooperating with the con:

tacts of each circumferential row.

4'. In a switch for an elevator control system-,the combination'of a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, said contacts being insulated from eachother in circumferential rows but electrically connected in a plurality of paths angularly disposed to said rows; contact means comprise ing a" rotatable member provided with a cam,

surface to select any. desired angular path; and stationary contact means cooperatingwith the contacts ofeach.,circun1ferential row.

5. In a switchfor. .an elevator control system, the combination of'a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, said contacts being insulated from each other in'circumferential rows but electrically connected in. a plurality ofpaths angularly disposed to said rows; contact \means carried by'said cylinder to select any desired angular' path; and stationary contact means cooperating with'the contacts of each circumferential row.

6. Ina switch for an elevator control system, the combinationof a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality of contacts, saidcontacts' being insulated from each other in circumferential rows but -ele ':tric ally connectedin aplurality of paths angularly disposed to said'rows'; contact means to select any desired angular path; and stationary contact means cooperating with the contacts of each circumferentialrow, whereby said stationary contacts will successively connect in circuit each of the contacts inthe selected at a p 7. In a switch foran electric elevator'control system, the combination of a rotatable cylinder provided with a plurality'of contacts, means for rotating said c lindeiysaid contacts being arranged in circumferential rows, and electrically connected only in a plurality of paths angularly disposed to said rows, contact means, means'forelectrically connecting said contact means'to any of said paths, stationary contactmeans ('30- operating withthe said first named contacts of each circumferential row, signalling means responsive to contact betweenvsa'id latter stationary contact and said latter cooperating contacts, additional contact means I cooperating with the said first named contacts of each circumferential row, signaling. a means responsive toycontact between said last named additional contact means and the said contacts of each circum'ferential'row.

8. In an elevator control system for governing the movements of a plurality of elevator cars,adapted-to make up and down trips, means for automatically making signals at regular time intervals to startthe up tripso'f the several cars and for automatically'makingsignalsat regular intervals to start the down tripsofthe several cars, said means including mechanism for changing at will the time intervals between the start of I ,the up trip and the start of the down trip for each car in the system simultaneously andsaid means further including means for equal and the intervals between the down signals for the several Cars to be equal for any selected schedule of operation of said oars.

9. In an ing a plurality of cars on changeable schedules, t e combination of'a rotating cylinder, means to rotate said cylinder; a contacts rotating with said cy contacts being arranged entially of said cylinder and'insulated from each other, means for connecting said con nder, said tacts in a plurality of groups, in paths angu- "a plurality'ofcars, meansiadapte to automatically make up and down si als for each of said cars at predetermined intervals; includin means adapted -to simultaneously change t e interval between each up signal andits correspondin'g ,down signal.

elevator control system for'servplurality of in rows circumfer- 11. In anelevator'dispatching system for a I a plurality of cars, signaling means adapted to automatically make up and down signals; 3

.for each of said cars at predetermined in;

tervals; including means adapted to changer-i the interval betweeneach-up signal and 1ts corresponding down signal while said s gnaling means is in operation;

12. 'In an elevator dispatching system for.

a plurality of cars signaling means adapted to automaticallymake up and down signals on each of said cars at predetermined intervals including-means adapted to 'change'the interval between each 1111. si spo'nding down signal while means is in operation.

13. In an elevator dispatching stem for a plurality of cars, means adapte to auto matically make up and down signals for" al and its corresaid signaling S0 readily changing the number of'cars governed and for causing the intervals between the up signals for the several cars to be,

each of said cars at predetermined intervals, including means adapted to simultaneously change the interval between each up si nal and its corresponding down signal, Willie maintaining constant the time interval between a plurality of successive up signals for each car.

14. In an elevator dispatching s stem for a plurality of cars, means adapte to auto matically make up and down-signals for each of said cars at predetermined intervals, including movable means adapted to simultaneously change the interval between each up signal and its corresponding down signal, while maintaining constant the time interval between a plurality of successive up signals for each car and while the cars ar in operation.

15. In an elevator-dispatching system for a plurality of cars, signaling means adapt ed to automatically make up and down signals for each of said cars at predetermined intervals; including rotatable means adapted to simultaneously change the interval between each u'p signal and its corresponding down signal, whlle maintaining constant .the

time interval between a plurality of successive up signals for each car and while the signaling means IS in operation.

16. In an elevator dispatching system for a plurality of cars, means comprising a rotatablecylinder adapted to automatically make up and down signals for each of said cars at predetermined intervals and including means comprising a member movable around said cylinder adapted to simultaneously change the interval between each u signal and its corresponding down signa, while maintaining constant the time interval between a plurality of successive up signals for each car.

17. In an elevator dispatching 5 Stem for a plurality of cars, means adapt to automatically make up and down signals for each of said cars at predetermined intervals to govern the time allotted for each up trip and for each down trip of each car including means adapted to simultaneously change the time allotted to the up trip relative to the time allotted to the corresponding down tri of each car.

18. In an elevator dispatching s stem for a plurality of cars, means adapte to automatically' make up and down signals for each of said cars at predetermined intervals to govern the time allotted for each up trip and for each down trip of each car including means adapted to simultaneously change, while the cars are in operation, the time allotted to the up trip re ative to the time allotted to the corresponding down trip of each car.

19. In an elevator dispatchin allotting periods of time for the up trips and down trips of a pluralit of cars, means adapted to automatically ma e up and down signals on each of said cars at predetermined intervals to start the up and down trips of the several cars in a cycle of operations including means adapted to simultaneously change the time allotted for each u trip relative to the time allotted for each vdown trip. In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

' FRANK- n. BOARDMAN.

FRANK E. BOARDMAN, JR,

0 system for i 

